Sunday, March 30, 2014

The Final Countdown

My mom
migrated to this country when she was 18 years old. To help support her family,
she worked full-time at nursing home for minimum wage ($3.25 an hour) while enrolling
full-time at a community college. At that point, she needed student loans.

When I was
born, my mom had a job that paid a meager $20,000 a year, and my father had
just started his own business in an outdoor flea market. At that point, we needed tax breaks aimed at
working families (earned income tax credit and child tax credit).

When my
sister was born, my dad’s business was still struggling, while my mom’s company
had just laid her off due to downsizing. At that point, we needed unemployment
benefits to survive.

But my parents would never consider themselves “dependent on
government”. We were always hardworking and responsible, but still found
ourselves in difficult situations that were out of our control. So when the
government stepped in to help, we saw it as an investment, not a hand-out.

And because of the significant role government had in our
lives, my parents are finally very successful small business owners.

And that is exactly why I support this President – because he
is doing everything he can to help others attain those same investments that
helped my family.

This includes healthcare reform – ie. Obamacare.

I have always taken very good
care of myself – I always watch what I eat, always exercise, never drink, never
smoke. Still, by the tender age of 24, I have battled cancer and 2 heart
surgeries. I am an insurance company’s worst nightmare. So without Obamacare, what
am I supposed to do if something happens to me again?

Thanks to
this law, I won’t have to worry.Thanks to
this law, 129 million can’t be denied coverage due to a preexisting condition.Thanks to
this law, 3 million young adults can stay on their parents’ plans until 26.Thanks to
this law, 6 million people are covered for the first time in their lives.Thanks to
this law, insurers must spent 80% of your premiums on actual care.

This President
has done everything he can possibly do to make this law work. He has compromised
with Republicans on the individual mandate and on creating state-based
exchanges. He has even made significant political sacrifices to ensure the law
works for everyone.

And it will
work for everyone. But only if we all work together to continue improving the
law, instead of trying to derail it before it’s fully effective.

Tomorrow is
the deadline for open enrollment. There’s no reason not to sign up, or at least
take the time to view all the options.

Healthcare
reform is still a topic of much political debate. But I have yet to hear any promising
alternatives, or any logical opposition. If you’re anything like me or my family, I can
ensure you that it’s the right thing to do, and the best time to support it. Laws
like this do not come around that often. But when they do, we all need to stand
together.

Every law, every program, every initiative (both in the public sector as well as in the private), has inherent flaws. But certain flaws should not necessarily discredit the larger benefits these programs can have.

With the Affordable Care Act, I believe one of the biggest flaws is that it doesn't provide an employer mandate for businesses that employ less than 50 employees (which is 97% of businesses). Although most of these companies already provide coverage for their employees, I think expanding the individuate mandate to small businesses would further ensure everyone attains access to affordable care.

But like I said, this doesn't mean that we need to vote over 50 times to repeal the law, or call it unconstitutional, or call it socialist, or shut down the government over it.